After leaving Daming Palace and looking at the bright moon in the sky, Li Yan knew that he might really have to work overtime during this period.
It’s another ten days to solve the case!
Young Bao Qingtian is also known as Young Bao Santian. Does he want to be nicknamed Young Li Shitian?
"It would be great if these cases had Japanese reasoning as a 'prototype'..."
Li Yan shook his head and went to Gongyuan Academy.
He was going to meet Pei Xingjian and Cui Shouye.
This time, the three of them were burdened at the same time.
Pei Xingjian and Cui Shouye were cabinet leaders, and the case also involved the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Personnel, so they had no shirk of their responsibilities.
In comparison, Li Zhi even offered him the temptation of giving him a book, which was regarded as a different light.
Of course, Li Yan was a bystander and knew very well that the relationship between the two saints had changed since Wu Minzhi's case.
Li Zhi really couldn't live without Empress Wu, but he took this opportunity to dream of her as the Queen of Heaven.
Empress Wu had tasted the alluring taste of power. How could she be willing to retreat behind the scenes and try every means to influence the situation of the court?
Ever since, Li Zhi would not even let go of his new confidant~
Go ahead, two power maniacs who share the same bed but have different dreams, kill each other until they die!
Li Yan was unhappy at first, but when he thought of that scene, he felt happy.
However, when he returned to the outside of the academy, he only saw Pei Xingjian. After asking about it, he found out that Cui Shouye had actually returned home, leaving only a group of officials from the Ministry of Justice to investigate the case.
Li Yan hated this kind of bossy attitude, and said loudly on purpose: "Leader Cui is really suspicious of people who don't use them, but they don't trust people who employ people!"
He didn't say it was okay, but when he said it, the officials from the Ministry of Punishment thought of being squeezed out of office by that little Wu Dewei, and their expressions suddenly turned bitter.
Cui Shouye will share the pressure. If the case cannot be solved next, punishment will be inevitable!
Pei Xingjian saw that he was young and energetic, so he persuaded him: "Yuanfang, there is nothing wrong with Cui Ge leader's attitude. As a superior officer, doing things personally can boost morale, but it will also put huge pressure on the people below, which is not necessarily a good thing..."
Li Yan accepted the kindness and laughed in a low voice: "The key is to entrust it to someone you can trust. I wouldn't trust it to people like the Ministry of Justice."
Pei Xingjian thought of that fat figure. He had just asked his subordinates to check, and then he realized that Li Yan was selected from the magistrates of various states and counties, and the list was obtained from the Ministry of Personnel. He couldn't help but smile and said: "You also selected from our Ministry of Personnel."
It’s not right to say this now after digging out a capable person!”
"I also hope Pei Gong Haihan!"
Li Yan deliberately pretended to accuse him, raised his eyebrows suddenly, and asked: "I have always wanted to ask, in Pei Gong's opinion, what kind of internal support is needed in the official department, so that the Cui thief who has taken refuge in Tubo can be unnoticed.
Transferred to Liangzhou as county magistrate?"
Pei Xingjian looked at him with a smile: "Do you believe me? Aren't you afraid that I will mislead you?"
Li Yan said categorically: "I believe in Mr. Pei!"
After all, the feeling of being trusted is good. Pei Xingjian stroked his long beard gently and said solemnly: "Actually, this matter is not as complicated as you think. The assessment and evaluation of the staff, the promotion and transfer of officials are all determined by the law. County Magistrate Cui
It was really me who was transferred to Liangzhou and appointed to the post of Guzang County Magistrate based solely on merit..."
Li Yan understood what Pei Xingjian meant: "So, the traitor in the court knows Pei Gong very well?"
Pei Xingjian smiled bitterly: "I am in charge of the selection of officials in the Ministry of Civil Affairs. There are documents for me to review on the promotion and removal of officials at all levels in the Tang Dynasty. I don't know how many people have studied my personality, likes and dislikes. This person dares to make this arrangement because he is fully aware of this.
point."
Li Yan narrowed his eyes slightly: "Everything is impeccable. Why would such a person secretly communicate with the enemy?"
Pei Xingjian sighed and asked, "Does Yuan Fang have any clues about this case?"
Li Yan looked at the courtyard: "This case is not easy to solve. The first scene is the key to solving the case, but how damaged is this place?"
The poisoned scholars vomited all over the place, some even became incontinent on the spot, and were extremely embarrassed.
It was important to save lives. In fact, the internal guards arrived very early under Li Yan's mobilization, but it was impossible to prevent the imperial doctor from saving people in order to protect the scene. They could only watch the clues being destroyed.
Fortunately, Di Renjie arrived and rushed in immediately.
After half an hour, Di Renjie finally walked out smelly, put away the silver needle he brought with him, and took a few deep breaths of fresh air.
Li Yan came to his side and patted his back gently: "Huaiying, are you okay?"
Di Renjie showed an moved smile: "Thank you very much Li Jiyi for your concern. There is no problem in resigning."
Li Yan said: "You go and rest. We are not in a hurry to solve the case this night. Your health is important!"
Di Renjie shook his head: "Don't be tired, this night is the most critical. If you can't find enough clues, the longer it goes on, the harder it will be to solve the case!"
He took a breath and took out a diary stained with dirt: "According to the imperial doctor, Zhang Yang, the deceased in this case, took at least five pills in a short period of time, but I found in his room
I have read many Taoist classics, as well as this diary. Let me turn the pages and ask Pei Ge to take them and Li Jiyi to read them!"
At this time, Pei Xingjian also resisted the strange smell and came over to take a closer look. He saw that Di Renjie had turned to the first page, which read:
[I failed the first test, and regretfully returned home. For the next few years, I tried several literary interpretations, but failed to achieve anything. What a pity! What a pity!]
[Now that I have entered the capital with Gong again, my blood has not yet cooled down, and I cannot succeed in the regular subjects, so I will choose the system subjects!]
[Even if I live in Xijing for a long time, I vow to gain fame and be elected as an official to comfort my hometown people!]
Pei Xingjian shook his head slightly when he saw it: "Making subjects..."
Li Yan also sighed: "With such persistence, no wonder he would resort to crooked ways."
In addition to being subdivided into subjects such as Jinshi, Mingjing, Mingfa, etc., the imperial examinations of the Tang Dynasty were also divided into major categories, namely regular subjects and system subjects.
There is an examination for regular subjects every year, and admission for professional subjects is for professional subjects.
An Zhongjing was a student of the second library and sixth scholar, and Kangda was a student from the prefecture and county who passed the examination and obtained the literary interpretation. In October, he accompanied Gong to the capital. They were both regular subjects, which is the kind of imperial examination that later generations understood.
But at this time, there was also a system of examinations, mainly special edicts from saints to select talents, that is, the emperor issued an order to hold a special examination to select the talents he needed.
During the Wu Zhou Dynasty, Wu Zetian promoted the children of poor families basically through the system of academic subjects, rather than non-special subjects.
But under normal circumstances, this model is even more hellish for children from poor families.
Because those who come to take the examination for the system subjects are not only students from this year, but also previous Jinshi Mingjing and serving officials may come to participate.
There is no way. Once selected by the Zhi Ke, they can basically be awarded official positions. There is no need to wait for the selection by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Many future prime ministers will rely on the Zhi Ke to get ahead. If current officials want to be promoted beyond the level, they can also participate in the Zhi Ke.
In order to gain the emperor's favor.
Anyway, in the end, the situation formed was that the top test-takers of the past generations rushed into an exam crazily and opened the paper.
Zhang Yang, who was addicted to drugs, couldn't even pass the general examination, and still wanted to enter the formal examination, and he would definitely end up turning into ashes.
When Di Renjie saw that the two of them were optimistic, he turned back.
The next dozen pages record how Zhang Yang visited powerful people and submitted poems, hoping to be taken seriously.
Pei Xingjian was afraid that Li Yan would not understand, so he explained in a low voice: "This trend has arisen in recent years. Scholars who come to Beijing to take the exam will submit Chen poems to various government offices and ask them to write the papers, hoping to learn a lot before the official exam.
reputation."
Li Yan said: "Mr. Pei, I understand. The Duke of Wei has also received many poems from imperial examination scholars, and I have accepted them all."
Pei Xingjian was a little surprised. Li Yan didn't seem like someone who liked to listen to flattery, so he continued:
"As long as there is a scholar who studied in the Sixth School of the Second Hall of Chang'an, who has outstanding talent, no one in the official department will know about it, and the examiner will naturally have an impression early. When he sees the articles of such celebrities, the first thought is that it is good, and then
If you look for the advantages, the results will be self-evident.”
"Those scholars from outside the border states are unknown in the capital. If they want to compete fairly with the scholars in the capital, what else can they do besides proving their talents in such a flattering way?"
"I don't have a literary name, so I can't help these new scholars. What I can do is not to discard their hard work like worn out shoes..."
Di Renjie's eyes were full of emotion when he heard this. Although he had no intention of writing the imperial examination, he would not have settled for the next best thing, taking the Ming Jing examination, unless he had no hope of becoming a Jinshi.
Pei Xingjian was silent for a moment and sighed: "It is my fault that the selection of scholars is unfair!"
Li Yan said: "Pei Gong does not need to take responsibility, this matter has nothing to do with you."
Pei Xingjian was mainly responsible for the promotion of serving officials, while the tendency of selecting scholars through the imperial examination was in the hands of another minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Li Jingxuan.
In fact, if the six ministers are not in the third rank of Tongzhongshu, they are in a pension position and do not do much.
The real leaders of the six departments are the two ministers.
There is a huge gap in the power of officials between the first-in-command and the second-in-command, and there is also a hierarchy between the two ministers.
For example, Cui Shouye has been in the Ministry of Punishment for many years and has a deep foundation. He is much more powerful than the other Minister Liu, and he is the first brother in the Ministry of Punishment.
Although Pei Xingjian was highly respected among the officials, his influence was still far inferior to that of Li Jingxuan.
Because Li Jingxuan was already the prime minister and was a member of the third rank of Tongzhongshu sect. He was Li Zhi's attendant at that time and was a close confidant of the saint.
Now is not the time to talk about this. Li Yan returned his gaze to the diary, and his expression quickly changed: "Why were the following pages torn out?"
Di Renjie explained: "Judging from the following content, these pages are most likely about how this person obtained the elixir. This is the key!"
He turned back and pointed out a description of Zhang Yang taking Danhou:
[Now I know that Yundan’s theory is indeed true. In the past, I was distracted, lost my focus, and failed every time I tried!]
[Now that I have obtained this precious elixir, I can restore my energy and replenish my brain, and I will be empowered, wealthy, and noble. How wonderful! How wonderful!]
[My whole body is hot and my abdominal pain is not stopping. It’s my fault for being greedy for too much! Although this pill is wonderful, don’t take too much, so remember!]
…
Pei Xingjian's face darkened: "Zhang Yang has learned a lesson and knows very well that pills are toxic and should not be greedy for too much, yet he took five pills tonight? Although it cannot be ruled out that he was poisoned by erysipelas and was confused and couldn't help himself, so he took the pills by mistake.
It is possible, but so many scholars were poisoned tonight. It was obviously caused by the pill. Zhang Yang happened to take the pill at this time and died. Many pages were torn out of the diary. It seems that this person was silenced!
"
"What Mr. Pei said is true!"
Li Yan nodded, but had a deeper idea and began to pace: "The Rilu tore these pages, why not destroy the entire book? Huaiying, what do you think?"
Di Renjie was waiting for these words, and he became energetic. A calm smile appeared on his round face, and he began to pace: "It is easy to destroy a few pages. If you want to burn the entire diary, there will be a lot of noise."
Li Yan said: "Then why didn't the murderer just take Rilu away?"
Di Renjie said: "Because the murderer is not planning to leave the scene, if this diary is left on him, once searched, it will be exposed."
Li Yan nodded: "Yes, the murderer only tore off key pages and did not take the diary away. This just shows that he acted in a hurry, but he still wanted to stay at the scene."
He then asked the second point: "From this analysis, it can be inferred that the murderer is pressed for time. So the question is, why is it necessary to force Zhang Yang to eat the elixir to kill him? Wouldn't it be more straightforward to kill him with one knife?
?”
Di Renjie shook his head: "The murderer hopes to disguise Zhang Yang's death as accidentally ingesting the pill. If that fails, he also hopes to use this method to conceal his existence as much as possible."
"Yes, if you kill with one knife, what should you do with the blood, and what should you do with the murder weapon? And forcing Zhang Yang to take the elixir can make people mistakenly think that Zhang Yang is also a victim of poisoning, and there is no need to worry about the aftermath!"
Li Yanshen agreed: "The murderer went to great lengths to hide these things, which also confirms his intention to stay at the scene and was not prepared to leave after the murder!"
The two of them were asking and answering questions, speaking very fast, both immersed in their own reasoning.
The two of them talked, and Pei Xingjian listened with great interest.
But the next moment, his expression changed.
Because Li Yan and Di Renjie looked at each other and turned their attention to the scholars who were vomiting so hard:
"The murderer of Zhang Yang is among these people!!"